On This Day in St. Louis Baseball History: April 17, 1945

On this day in 1945, one-armed outfielder Pete Gray made his major-league debut at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis in a game against the Detroit Tigers.

Gray, who lost his right arm in a childhood accident, collected one hit in his four trips to the plate that day. It was a single off a pitch from Belleville native Les Mueller. He would manage a total of 51 safeties in his only MLB season, hitting .218 with no homers in 77 games.

While he didn't have great success in the major leagues, Gray was a top minor league performer in several seasons of play. He batted .308 in six seasons in the bus leagues and one season in Memphis he managed five homers with his one-armed swing.

His best year was his first when Gray batted .333 with nine triples in 1944 to earn his call up to the big leagues.